Silver Breaks $101, Intel Stock Plunges 17%: What's Moving Markets Friday?

Precious metals continued to dominate Wall Street headlines on Friday as silver surged through the $100-per-ounce threshold and traded around $101 per ounce by midday in New York, marking a staggering 230% gain over the past year.

Gold flirted with the equally eye-catching $5,000-per-ounce level, a price that stood nearly 80 percentage points lower just a year earlier.

The rally extended beyond gold and silver. Across the broader commodities complex, momentum remained strong.

Palladium jumped 6%, breaking above $2,000 per ounce for the first time since November 2022, while platinum surged 5% to fresh all-time highs above $2,700 per ounce. Copper climbed 3% to $6 per pound.

Energy prices also pushed higher. Henry Hub natural gas rose another 2% to $5.15 per million British thermal units, lifting week-to-date gains to more than 60% and marking the strongest weekly surge on record amid the extreme cold wave hitting America. Crude prices advanced as well, with WTI rising more than 2% to near $61 a barrel.

On Wall Street, stocks paused after two days of robust gains. By 1:00 p.m. in New York, the S&P 500 traded broadly flat, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%. Small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 falling 0.6%.

The energy sector led the market for a second straight session, reaching levels last seen in 2014, while financials underperformed.

In earnings, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) emerged as the day's biggest mover, plunging more than 17% in its worst session since August 2024 after the chipmaker issued weak first-quarter 2026 guidance.

In crypto markets, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 1.9% to $90,600.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) fell 1.71% to $265.18.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) declined 0.7% to $490.09.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.4% to $623.12.
• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) traded flat at $633.53.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) outperformed, up 1%; the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) lagged, down 1.6%.

Russell 1000’s Top Gainers On Friday

Russell 1000’s Top Losers On Friday

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